The Vipava Valley is a valley

Valley

In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...

 located in the Slovenian Littoral

Slovenian Littoral

The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....

, between the towns of Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica

Nova Gorica ; 21,082 ; 31,000 ) is a town and a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy...

 and Vipava

Vipava, Slovenia

Vipava is a small town in western Slovenia with 1500 inhabitants. It is the center of a municipality with 5,185 people. Vipava is built near the numerous sources of the Vipava River, in the upper Vipava Valley, 102 m above sea level...

.

Geography

It is a narrow valley, serving as the main passage between Friuli

Friuli

Friuli is an area of northeastern Italy with its own particular cultural and historical identity. It comprises the major part of the autonomous region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, i.e. the province of Udine, Pordenone, Gorizia, excluding Trieste...

an lowland and central Slovenia

Slovenia

Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...

, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy

Northern Italy

Northern Italy is a wide cultural, historical and geographical definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the northern part of the Italian state, also referred as Settentrione or Alta Italia...

 to Central Europe

Central Europe

Central Europe or alternatively Middle Europe is a region of the European continent lying between the variously defined areas of Eastern and Western Europe...

. It is closed to the north by the high Trnovo Forest, and to the south by the Karst Plateau

Kras

Karst ; also known as the Karst Plateau, is a limestone borderline plateau region extending in southwestern Slovenia and northeastern Italy. It lies between the Vipava Valley, the low hills surrounding the valley, the westernmost part of the Brkini Hills, northern Istria, and the Gulf of Trieste...

 and the narrow Branica Valley, a geographical sub-unit of the Vipava Valley. It is named after the Vipava River. Its main urban center is Ajdovščina

Ajdovšcina

Ajdovščina is a small town and a municipality with the same name and a population of 7000 , located in the Vipava Valley , Slovenia....

. Administratively, it is subdivided into the municipalities of Ajdovščina, Vipava, Nova Gorica, Renče-Vogrsko

Rence-Vogrsko

Renče-Vogrsko is a municipality in the Goriška region of Slovenia. It was created in 2006 when it split from the Nova Gorica municipality.-External links:* *...

, and Miren-Kostanjevica

Miren-Kostanjevica

Miren-Kostanjevica is a municipality in western Slovenia, on the border with Italy. It is part of the Goriška region of the Slovene Littoral. The municipality's main settlements are Miren and Kostanjevica na Krasu...

. Part of the municipality of Savogna d'Isonzo

Savogna d'Isonzo

Savogna d'Isonzo is a comune in the Province of Gorizia in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about 35 km northwest of Trieste and about 3 km southwest of Gorizia, on the border with Slovenia. It is located at the conjunctions Kras Plateau and the Vipava Valley. The vast...

 in the Province of Gorizia

Province of Gorizia

The Province of Gorizia is a province in the autonomous Friuli–Venezia Giulia region of Italy.-Overview:Its capital is the city of Gorizia. It belonged to the Province of Udine between 1924 and 1927 and the communes of Sonzia, Plezzo, Bergogna, Caporetto, Tolmino, Circhina, Santa Lucia d'Isonzo,...

 (Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

) is also located in the valley.

The Vipava Valley comprises five microregions:

1. The Lower Vipava Valley with the Gorizia
   Gorizia
   Gorizia is a town and comune in northeastern Italy, in the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. It is located at the foot of the Julian Alps, bordering Slovenia. It is the capital of the Province of Gorizia, and it is a local center of tourism, industry, and commerce. Since 1947, a twin...
   
    plain (Slovene: Spodnja Vipavska dolina z Goriško ravnino)
2. The Central Vipava Valley (Srednja Vipavska dolina)
3. The Upper Vipava Valley (Zgornja Vipavska dolina)
4. The Vipava Hills (Vipavska brda)
5. The Branica Valley (Braniška dolina)

Climate

The region has a relatively mild, sub-Mediterranean climate

Mediterranean climate

A Mediterranean climate is the climate typical of most of the lands in the Mediterranean Basin, and is a particular variety of subtropical climate...

, suitable for the cultivation of different kinds of fruits (especially peach

Peach

The peach tree is a deciduous tree growing to tall and 6 in. in diameter, belonging to the subfamily Prunoideae of the family Rosaceae. It bears an edible juicy fruit called a peach...

es, apricot

Apricot

The apricot, Prunus armeniaca, is a species of Prunus, classified with the plum in the subgenus Prunus. The native range is somewhat uncertain due to its extensive prehistoric cultivation.- Description :...

s, persimmon

Persimmon

A persimmon is the edible fruit of a number of species of trees in the genus Diospyros in the ebony wood family . The word Diospyros means "the fire of Zeus" in ancient Greek. As a tree, it is a perennial plant...

s, and fig

Ficus

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...

s). The Vipava Valley is also renowned for its quality wine

Wine

Wine is an alcoholic beverage, made of fermented fruit juice, usually from grapes. The natural chemical balance of grapes lets them ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes, or other nutrients. Grape wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast...

s, especially white ones. Among white grapes, the most common varieties in the region are Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Sauvignon

Sauvignon

Sauvignon may refer to:*Sauvignon blanc – a white wine grape*Sauvignon vert – a white wine grape widely planted in Chile. Also a name in California for muscadelle*Sauvignon gris – a pink wine grape*Cabernet sauvignon – a red wine grape...

, and the indigenous

Indigenous (ecology)

In biogeography, a species is defined as native to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention. Every natural organism has its own natural range of distribution in which it is regarded as native...

 types Zelen, Pinela, and Vitovska Garganja

Vitovska

Vitovska or Vitouska, also known in Slovenian as Vitovska Grganja or Garganja is an Italian and Slovene wine grape predominantly planted in the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region and in the Kras in the Slovenian Littoral. The name of the grape is of Slovenian origin, but is now mostly found in the lower...

, while red varieties include Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Barbera

Barbera

Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy . It produces good yields and is known for deep color, low tannins and high levels of acid...

, and Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

.

The valley is also famous for the sometimes extremely strong Bora

Bora (wind)

Bora or Bura is a northern to north-eastern katabatic wind in the Adriatic, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy, Greece, Slovenia, and Turkey....

 (burja) wind, which is particularly strong in the area between the towns of Vipava and Ajdovščina.

History

Historically, the upper eastern part of the valley, including the town of Vipava and half of the town of Ajdovščina, used to belong to the Duchy of Carniola

Duchy of Carniola

The Duchy of Carniola was an administrative unit of the Holy Roman Empire and the Habsburg Monarchy from 1364 to 1918. Its capital was Ljubljana...

 (more precisely, to Inner Carniola), while the lower western part was incorporated in the County of Gorizia and Gradisca

Gorizia and Gradisca

The County of Gorizia and Gradisca was a Habsburg county in Central Europe, in what is now a multilingual border area of Italy and Slovenia. It was named for its two major urban centers, Gorizia and Gradisca d'Isonzo.-Province of the Habsburg Empire:...

 and thus to the Austrian Littoral

Austrian Littoral

The Austrian Littoral was established as a crown land of the Austrian Empire in 1849. In 1861 it was divided into the three crown lands of the Imperial Free City of Trieste and its suburbs, the Margraviate of Istria, and the Princely County of Gorizia and Gradisca, which each had separate...

. Today, the inhabitants mostly feel part of the Goriška

Goriška

Goriška is a traditional region in western Slovenia on the border with Italy. The name means "the Gorizia region" because it is named after Gorizia, Italy. It is part of the wider traditional region of the Slovenian Littoral . Its principal urban center is Nova Gorica...

region of the Slovenian Littoral

Slovenian Littoral

The Slovenian Littoral is a historical region of Slovenia. Its name recalls the historical Habsburg crown land of the Austrian Littoral, of which the Slovenian Littoral was a part....

, and the Carniola

Carniola

Carniola was a historical region that comprised parts of what is now Slovenia. As part of Austria-Hungary, the region was a crown land officially known as the Duchy of Carniola until 1918. In 1849, the region was subdivided into Upper Carniola, Lower Carniola, and Inner Carniola...

n identity has almost completely disappeared.

Famous people who were born or lived in the region include the painters Zoran Mušič

Zoran Mušic

Zoran Mušič was a Slovenian painter. He spent half of his life living and working in Italy.-Life:Zoran Mušič was born in a Slovene-speaking family in Bukovica, a village in the Vipava Valley near Gorizia, in what was then the Austrian County of Gorizia and Gradisca...

 and Veno Pilon

Veno Pilon

Veno Pilon was a Slovene expressionist painter, graphic artist and photographer.Pilon was born in Ajdovščina, then part of the Austro-Hungarian province of Gorizia and Gradisca . After graduating from the prestigious gymasium of Gorizia, he was drafted by the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I...

, the poets Stanko Vuk, Simon Gregorčič

Simon Gregorcic

Simon Gregorčič was a Slovene poet and Roman Catholic priest.- Biography :Gregorčič was born in the small mountain village of Vrsno above the river Soča in the County of Gorizia and Gradisca. In 1851, he attended primary school in Libušnje, but was in 1855 sent to school in Gorizia. After...

, Nevin Birsa

Nevin Birsa

Nevin Birsa may refer to:* Birsa Munda, 19th century Indian Independence movement leader* Nevin Birsa , Slovene poet...

, and Josip Murn, the diplomat and writer Sigismund von Herberstein

Sigismund von Herberstein

Siegmund Freiherr von Herberstein, , was an Carniolan diplomat, writer, historian and member of the Holy Roman Empire Imperial Council...

, the historian Martin Baučer

Martin Baucer

Martin Baučer , also known as Martin Baucer, was a Slovene historian who wrote in Latin.Baučer was born in the village of Selo near Ajdovščina in the Vipava Valley, in what was then the County of Gorizia...

, the preachers Sebastijan Krelj and Janez Svetokriški

Janez Svetokriški

Janez Svetokriški was a Slovene preacher and writer in the Baroque period.Svetokriški was born as Tobia Lionelli to a Slovene mother and an Italian father in the town of Sveti Križ in the Vipava Valley, County of Gorizia...

, the author of the music for the Slovenian National anthem

Zdravljica

Zdravljica or Zdravica, written in 1844, is a poem by the Slovene Romantic poet France Prešeren, considered the national poet of Slovenes. Since 27 September 1989, its 7th stanza has been the national anthem of Slovenia....

 Stanko Premrl

Stanko Premrl

Stanko Premrl was a Slovenian Roman Catholic priest, composer and music teacher. He is most famous as the author of the music for the Slovenian national anthem, the Zdravljica.Premrl was born in the village of Št...

, the partisan hero Janko Premrl Vojko, the author Danilo Lokar

Danilo Lokar

Danilo Lokar was a Slovene doctor and Expressionist writer.-Life:He was born in the town of Ajdovščina in the County of Gorizia and Gradisca, in what was then Austria-Hungary . Danilo was the oldest of six children in a family which made its living through tanning, and which ran a small leather shop...

, the literary historian Avgust Žigon, and the designer Oskar Kogoj.

External links

• Vipava Valley - University of Nova Gorica
• Vipava Valley climate